Nvidia will take part in the launch of Via's Isaiah processor slated for next week, just prior to Computex in Taipei, Taiwan.

Via will provide the central processing unit and motherboard, plus the core logic (chipset) solution, while Nvidia will provide the graphics processing unit, said Drew Henry, general manager of Nvidia's platform products division.

Nvidia will offer standalone "discrete" graphics for both notebook and desktop platforms using the Isaiah chip, Henry said.

"We are participating in the launch. We wish to work with them in demonstrating any number of different visual computing applications," Henry added.

Isaiah is Via's first high-performance x86 chip and is targeted at the mainstream PC market--another first for the Taipei-based chip supplier. Via processors have historically appeared in ultra-small mobile devices (such as the OQO), embedded computers, or thin-client computers.

"Their solution is better than (Intel's) Atom solution because (Isaiah) is a newer technology," Henry said.

One of the main differences between Isaiah and Atom is that Intel's chip uses a more simple "in-order execution" design, compared with Isaiah's Superscalar, out-of-order design.

Because of this more sophisticated design, Isaiah may deliver higher performance than Atom under certain processing loads. But Isaiah may also compete with Intel's higher end Core 2 solo (single processor) and Celeron lines. In this case, it may not have a performance advantage.

About the author

Brooke Crothers writes about mobile computer systems, including laptops, tablets, smartphones: how they define the computing experience and the hardware that makes them tick. He has served as an editor at large at CNET News and a contributing reporter to The New York Times' Bits and Technology sections. His interest in things small began when living in Tokyo in a very small apartment for a very long time.
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